Holiday Events Next Week at UTB/TSC
Tuesday, December 1, 2009.-6:00 p.m. Student Union in front of El Gran Salon
The Division of Student Affairs – Student Union Office in conjunction with the Office of Student Life will host the 3rd Annual UTB/TSC Christmas Tree Lighting ceremony. The program will begin at 6:30 p.m.
The Official Tree Lighting will take place at 6:45 p.m. with the winners of the ornament contest doing the honor.
Offices on campus are designing ornaments for the tree and the winners will be announced at the event. Third and fourth graders from Brownsville’s Longoria Elementary will sing and Mariachi Escorpión will perform.
Contact: Patricia Longoria, 882-6776 or patricia.m.longoria@utb.edu
Saturday, Dec. 5. – ‘Posadas y Pastorelas’-5- 9 p.m., SETB area
This is the 18th year UTB/TSC hosts the Posadas y Pastorelas.The traditional Mexican holiday celebration will include games, such as “loteria,” mariachi music, traditional foods and a “Posada,” a procession of song and dance that evokes the search for lodging by Mary and Joseph. One of the highlights will be the traditional “Pastorela,” a Shepherds Play presented by Catholic Campus Ministries.
The events for the evening include:
How to Make Piñatas – 5-6 p.m., SETB courtyard
Make piñatas and paper poinsettia flowers, as well as devils’ horns and angels’ halos, reminiscent of the Pastorelas. The workshop program is coordinated by Heather Olague, Lyzeth Flores and Iracema Flores.
Posada – 6 p.m., SETB parking lot
The procession will begin in the parking lot of the Science, Engineering Technology Building and make several stops along the paseo before returning to the SETB Courtyard.
Pastorela – 6:30 p.m. and 7 p.m. SETB Lecture Hall
Catholic Campus Ministries will have two performances of the Shepherds Play.
Posada Party – 7 p.m., SETB courtyard
The party will feature piñatas, entertainment and music.
Admission is free. Student organizations will sell concessions. The events are hosted by the UTB/TSC Office of Student Life, Campus Activities Board, Catholic Campus Ministries, International Student Organization and the Dean of Students Office.
Contact Eloy Alvarez at (956) 882-5144 or at eloy.alvarez@utb.edu.
About Posadas and Pastorelas
POSADAS are popular Mexican celebrations that date back to the colonial period. They commemorate the journey of Mary and Joseph from Nazareth to Bethlehem. Traditionally, they take place at private homes over nine nights, culminating with the most important Posada on Christmas Eve. The guests participate in an outdoor procession with special songs. Although they are denied admittance to house after house, they are finally successful in requesting “posada,” a Spanish word for shelter, and are joyfully admitted into a local home. There they are given “aguinaldos,” goody baskets containing fruits and candy. The celebration concludes with the breaking of piñatas.
PASTORELAS are performed in Mexico during the holiday season and have their roots in the early Christian theater of Europe in the middle ages. Pastorelas were introduced in Mexico by the colonizers with the goal of converting the indigenous population to Christianity. By Mexico’s independence, Pastorelas were incorporated into village traditions and the plays have been performed seasonally up to the present day. Pastorelas are characterized by innocence and candor in their depiction of the battle between good and evil. Their characters are guileless shepherds, angels, and the three wise men versus a host of picaresque devils and demons. Their comic dialogs are spoken in rhyme.
